The blame game
by FourteenDrake
Summary: John never really planed failing the 12th grade. Informed that he needs three more credits the graduate, John finds a means to obtain these. He'll do whatever it takes; even hangout with a cold blooded psychopath with trust issues and questionable mood swings. Then again... Fist impressions can be misleading, can't they? (M 'cause I'm paranoid and triggers in later chapters)
1. Chapter 1

John Egbert stared down at the sheet of paper slapped down on his desktop. It was a list of credits he had revived throughout the year, that would eventually allow him to graduate. He felt three presences behind him, one whistled, amused, while the other two placed hands of comfort on his shoulder. The paper was slightly torn at the tops from where John had gripped it in horror. Three; he was missing three lousy credits. He looked up at his teacher and best friend's older brother, Dirk, who was standing in front of the desk, arms crossed, looking just as glum as John felt. "How?"

Dirk shook his head, shooting a sharp glare at one of the teens behind John when they snickered. "Shut it David, you almost lost a credit as well," The teacher snarled to his younger brother. Dave looked at him with raised eyebrows, rounded aviators hiding any emotion in his eyes.

"What for?" Dave asked, frowning.

Dirk coughed into his fist, then spoke, "Overall cockiness," The older Strider said simply, returning to John, leaving Dave with his mouth slightly agape while Rose smirked, patting his shoulder. "You were away a lot this semester John," Dirk sighed, turning away from the small group to slouch on his desk top, "Why, _were_ you away so much anyways John?"

Said teen stuttered out a few quick excuses, Rose, Dave and Jade sighing behind him. Dirk chuckled. "This is where you say 'I would prefer not to say,'... I get it John you're a teenage boy, you get into mischief," The blond teacher said recrossing his arms, getting a few confused glances, "But that doesn't mean I'm excusing you from... This" Dirk paused, then gestured to the paper in front of John.

John nodded glumly, pulling his gaze back towards the report. "I understand," He pressed his lips together in disappointment. "I know it's close to the end of the year but is there _any_ way I could earn these?" John pleaded, puppy eyes on. Dirk gave him a stony expressions.

"John those eye's stopped working on me the moment you hit grade six-" He stopped speaking when suddenly Jade's eye's widened and she mad her bottom lip tremble slightly. Dirk in took a sharp breath. He looked away, "Stop it you two..." Dirk winced when he looked back at them, Rose now joining in. "Fine! John I'll give you an opportunity... If Dave does the eye-"

"No, fuck that," Dave deadpanned, "You got a problem with that Dick?" The two siblings stared at each other for a few seconds before Dirk finally looked back at John. He sighed.

"Damn it" Dirk cursed, saying a few more choice words, "Fuck it, fine,"

John instantly raised his hand up right beside his head, Jade going right in for a swift high five.

"So John you got what you wanted," Dirk pushed off his wooden desk, reaching to a small stack of glossy paper beside his hips. "Have a look,"

John gingerly took the pamphlet from his teacher, inspecting it briefly before realizing he was looking at the back, then turning it around.

_**Alternia mental hospital**_

John could feel his friends looking over his shoulder in curiosity. "Dirk that's a rather direct approach, don't you think?" Rose joked in her own amusement.

Jade giggled along side her, "Yeah, even for you that's a little harsh"

Dave smirked, "I mean we know Egbert not exactly sane but really?"

John only glowered in self regret, "That was weak Dave," A shrug was his reply. Dirk sighed.

"Open it,"

John sighed and did as told. The first thing that caught his eye was the bland colour of the thing, a plain white background with dark brown text that was so small he had to look over his glasses while squinting to read it. It was pretty much describing the care and services they provided. He read a small paragraph about how every Friday they would have a theme day or something. Wow these guys sure knew how to party. Eventually John's eyes fell upon a light grey sparky bubbled. The words were pressed so close together her had to press the page to his face.

_**Volunteer's wanted**_

Oh... OH!

"You want me to volunteer with a bunch of crazies?" John asked doubtfully. Dirk frowned for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

"Not exactly,"

"So you really do want to put Egbert in-"

"be quiet David. No, I do not want to place anyone in a mental ward. I am suggesting that you volunteer, John" Dirk adjusted his pointy sunglasses.

"So you _do, _want me to volunteer with a bunch of crazies...?" John asked again, confused by his own question.

"Yes, fine! That's the only way you're getting any extra cred though, so take it, or do an apprenticeship over the summer," Dirk said, leaving no room for argument. "If you agree to Volunteer here till the end of the year, then you'll be able to graduate... Probably,"

John stared at Dirk, distressed, "Okay... I guess I'll do it,"

Dirk laughed lightly, "that's the spirit, I'll call Jake right after you guys leave, you start tomorrow,"

000000000

As the four friends exited the office, Jade encouraging her brother that it wouldn't be so bad, someone ran up to them fuming. "Where the fuck have you all been?" Karkat spat out quickly, looking around, frantic. "Terezi's been chasing me around for the last forty minutes! I think I lost her..." He gulped, his red eye's finally settling on the crumpled pamphlet in John's hands. John yelped quietly when Karkat snatched it out of his hands.

The grumpy male read it over once, snarling then tossing it back at John only for the flying paper to be intercepted. "Jegus motherfucking Christ!" Karkat screamed, when Terezi snatched the sheet from right in front of his face. "Terezi you insolent fuck grub! You could have scratched my damn face off with your oversized bulge snatchers!"

All he got were a few confused looks from the five in front of him.

Terezi shrugged, tugging the folds open and taking a long whiff. Her nose wrinkled up and her cheeks puffed out like she was going to gag. Dave let out a soft chuckle when the blind girl punched Karkat. "Why the hell did you let me smell this?" Terezi coughed, fanning her hand under her scrunched up nose, "That was like hell its self!" She continued her complaining, as Karkat rubbed his shoulder aggressively, using his assortment of colorful vocabulary. Terezi rubbed her nose a few times, sneezing once, making Karkat's eyes widen and shut up. "What is this thing anyway?" Terezi wheezed out.

"It's a petition demanding John be sent to a Mental institution," Dave said easily, the lack of emotion in his voice making it difficult to determine whether he was being serious or not.

"... Hand me the pen," Karkat and Terezi said at the same time, One smirking playful, while the other growled it, looking drop dead serious. Dave's mouth twitched up in a hint of a smile.

"Wow, glad I have such great friends," John sighed as the group walked down the halls.

"I would never send you to a mental ward John!" Jade chirped, her face rather offended "That just wouldn't be fair!"

John smiled lightly at his sister, opening his mouth to say something. "although I have considered it..." Jade whispered to herself, making the lot of them crack up in one way or another and had John tossing his hands into the air and storm away in frustration.

"Wait John!" Jade called after him, "There's nothing wrong with being a little crazy!" John kept walking off, not knowing why they set him off so much today. He heard them calling after him, Jade even starting to jog after him; he walked faster. The voices faded as he walked out of the school and through the forest that surrounded it. He had last block off, his sorta-friend, Sollux was supposed to tutor him in math... He'd text him, calling it off.

John wandered aimlessly for an hour after telling Sollux something had come up and thanks but he couldn't make it. That guy was always going somewhere after school anyways and wouldn't tell anyone, not even his girlfriend Feferi. John briefly considered arranging something with Dave and Karkat to follow Sollux to see where he was always going, then he remembered that he was supposed to be angry with Dave; Karkat hadn't really done anything, he was just Karkat

John was snapped out of his thoughts by the vibrating of his cell phone. It was Dave...

Wait scratch that, it was Dirk texting John from Dave's phone. The text said that his first shift was tomorrow morning, till late afternoon, perfect. Sighing, John shoved his cell back into his back pocket, looking around in confusion.

Where the heck was he?

Some of the buildings seemed familiar enough, but he really had no idea how he had walked from School all the way to downtown. He swung his head around trying to remember which way he had to go. On his right was a rundown toy store that looked like it had gone around picking up random bits off the streets, the only reason it was still open was because of through the roof prices. One year for Christmas, John and all his friends had bought each other something from there, John got Karkat a plastic rainbow sickle, while Karkat had gotten John a erect middle finger and one very strong fuck you. To his right was also a battered coffee shop with a stained green banner, the once bright lettering now smoky grey, and a practical joke store John visited regularly, though they rarely got new stock.

To his left, was a large administrative building, two stories high and longer then the block itself. Sitting calmly beside the longhouse was a pale blue, biggish building that might have been considered huge if not placed beside the king of fucking wiggle town. Beside the monstrosity that majorly consisted of office space, the blue structure looked small, quaint even. Now that he thought about it John had never really taken much notice of that particular place.

Sitting outside of it, was a worn sign that said something in characters John couldn't distinguish. Looking both ways on the deserted side street, John quickly jogged across the road towards the object of his curiosity. As he ran, he couldn't help but notice the sweet sent that seemed to waft from the blue house, because that's what it was; a really, really big ass house.

The boy exhaled loudly when he crouched down in front of the blurred sign.

_**Alternia mental hospital**_

It read. John's eyebrows raised up slightly. So this was the place; it was a lot more... subtle, then what he was expecting. As he raised his head, the sweet smell caught his attention once again, causing him to inhale deeply. It was almost like it was reeling him in.

Glancing in all directions, John finally decided to check the place out. He trotted up the steps, coming to the front door that was almost like a cottage. "Odd design for the city..." John mumbled to himself, trying the doorknob as it said visiting hours were currently happening. It opened with a gentle creek, a draft of cool air hitting him as he entered, accompanied by the light jingle of bells on the door.

The first thing John noticed as he entered, were the walls. They were light blue, but far from white and adorned with different artworks, in varying styles. The lighting was soft and cast a steady glow over the whole room. Illuminating the desk and front door. If it weren't sunny out right then, he could only guess the room would be darker. "Mood lighting" John thought, snickering in his own head.

"Yes? Hello?" A voice called out from behind one of the walls overlapping into the room near the desk. Right as the word were spoken, a man – maybe in his mid twenty's – walked out from behind the wall, going to lean on the desk thoughtfully. "How can I help you?" He asked, smiling sweetly, although nervously. The man had dark hair much like John's and green eyes much like Jade's.

"Jake where are your glasses?" John asked, looking at his brother in question. Not that Jake could tell. Jake just continued to smile, the curve of his lips turning into a surprised pucker each second.

"O-Oh... Hello John," Jake, stuttered. "I seem to have misplaced them," He went on, flicking his head in one direction in an attempt to get his hair out of his eyes that were usually covered by glass.

John laughed silently. "That is so something you would do," the younger male said in amusement. Jake only nodded, proceeding to extend his hand. John sighed, reaching into his pack, as he walked over to the desk. Upon his arrival, John swiftly placed his spare pair of glasses into his older brothers hand. Jake smiled gratefully, uncurling the arms and placing them on his face. They fell perfectly into place on his nose that was wrinkled in shock.

"Blimey," Jake muttered, taking an experimental look around the room. "John you really should get off the computer sometime," He whispered, still in slight shock from the enhanced vision. Jake shook his head once, his attention once again on John. "Right then! What brings you around little brother? Come too visit your favorite sibling?" Jake chuckled, falling back on the office chair behind him.

"No, I forgot you worked here actually until Dirk reminded me a few hours ago..." John said awkwardly fingering the strap of his laptop bag. "Yeah, I figured I should at least check out this place since I'm starting tomorrow," John summarized, skipping the part were he had just randomly wandered down here.

Jake cast an offended look in John's direction, "I thought we were bro's man?" Jake wept, holding a hand to his heart. John just cast him a blank stare. The older brother dropped his hand almost instantly to return the stare. "Fine Mr. Egbert, follow me," Jake sighed, he though this little encounter would give him a short break from work, but it just had to be John. Not Jade who would go on and on about her day. Nope, John; straight to the point, slightly oblivious, chipper John.

Said boy followed Jake behind the desk, where there were three directions in which you could venture. Up a flight of short stairs, straight ahead or off to the side where Jake had been calling from. "The kitchen is through this door," Jake said, gesturing to the door directly ahead of them, "In it, is a pair of stairs to the dining room as well as a dumbwaiter. To the side we have storage, offices and security," He continued. With a small wave, John was following his brother up the stairs.

John didn't really care about the offices or storage, but he made a mental note to check out the kitchen's dumbwaiter. His mind went wild with all the prank opportunity. He squealed on the inside, just thinking about all the meddling he could do in the security room.

Reaching the top of the short stair case, Jake made a wide gesture with his arms. This time, instead of just three paths, there were four. Another stair case, this one steeper than the last and three hallways. Jake briefly explained how all of them pretty much lead to the same place, others were just more direct. The halls all eventually lead to the dinning room, the one in the middle leading directly to it with a few doors for storage and employee rooms along the way. Left, split off into two sections; bathrooms. Right, recreation room and some strange solid... steel door. John was about to ask but decided against it as Jake pulled him into the rec room where a few people lingered.

None of them were wearing tacky hospital bedsheets, John noted and a lot of them seemed around his age. They all seemed unaware of his presence when Jake leaned over to John to tell him a few things hushed. "So John when you get here in the morning, I won't be here, so just tell the woman downstairs your last name and she'll check you in and everything. Once checked in, just come up here with her and she will take you to where you need to be,"

John nodded, glancing around the room, loud _tink _noises coming from the television. It appeared they were playing Mario cart. "Um... What exactly will I be doing here?" John asked, eyes fixated on the screen.

Jake sighed deeply, pulling John slightly aside, back into the other hall. "John, you may have noticed a lack of... Hospital regulation; hospital is more then a title here, more then regulation and protocol. There kids are damaged, broken, stuck somewhere we can't get to them. They are misfits, outcasts, they have scars... John this is a place of healing, a repair shop, not a prison for the insane...! It's these kids second chance. Maybe a lot of them are beyond saving, but at least we can make them happy, feel secure even," Jake said, shaking his head sadly. "That's your job John, just make them happy, be their friend,"

John stared at his brother in astonishment, was he really getting something other then chipped British and sassy sarcastic remarks out of him? Quickly recovering from his stupor, John slowly nodded, feeling a sense of duty wash over him. He sniffed quickly, looking anywhere but back into that room. "Jake..."

"Yes?"

"How long did it take you to prepare that?" John snorted, the sound muffled by his hand.

Jake groaned loudly, "A week at most,"

The two brothers walked back downstairs laughing with each other, Jake elbowing John in the ribs, insisting he really meant what he said. And John left still wondering what that sweet scent was.

**So this is my first Homestuck fanfiction and I know that I messed with the whole Beta/Alpha, age/chronological/whatever but this is what I'm working with, so sorry if it pisses you off! **

** Anyways, sorry if I mess anything up, I'm only on Act 6 intermission 2, not all up to date but hey. Thanks for reading – if I get some positivity on this I will surely continue and I will get around to updating my other stuff... Of the little content there is. **


	2. Chapter 2

** I wanted to take this chapter to introduce some of the other couples I plan on including. So I am sorry if this one has little plot progression and even less John thought proses. It's also four in the morning.**

** I'm tired. So. Very. Tired. **

On his way out, John was offered a ride home from his brother, that is if he waited a while for his shift to end. He thought it over for a second before declining, deciding he'd rather walk, wanting to look at a pet store that was just down the street, if he remembered correctly. The two siblings gave curt waves to each other as John exited the facility.

The sun had just started to go down when John stepped out to discover the sky dimmer than before. Shrugging, he set off down the street, north towards the pet shop he prayed was still open. As he walked John occupied himself with musings about the hospital, if it could even be called that. It definitely wasn't what he was expecting, he even learned that they didn't have a theme night every Friday because, look it was Friday and nothing. John thought back to the rec room, a wide space with the highest ceilings in the whole building. Now that he was given time to think about it, non of the people in there could have been over 20 years old. Maybe they only accepted teens? John nodded his head once, nobody around to see it, figuring this was an acceptable reason.

On the couch in front of the TV had sat one of the tallest people John had ever seen, he may have been the exception to John's assumption that everyone was under 20. The tall male had dark curly hair and had been wearing loads of white makeup on his face, clown makeup perhaps. Beside the clown had sat one of the _shortest _people John had ever encountered. With a cloth cat eared pullover and when standing maybe at 4'3, she growled at the taller person every once in a while when he bumped her off the edge or passed her on the track when she was finally winning. Okay so maybe she wasn't _that_ short but she was definitely smaller then the average sixth grader.

They were the only two in the room besides some nurse or supervisor in the corner reading a book and a girl sitting at a desk sketching something. Her hair was down and cascaded in long waves down her back and shoulders, the length was a dark midnight blue while the roots showed the more normal colour of... strawberry blond, yeah. John couldn't see what she was drawing, but could tell she wasn't very happy. When she briefly moved in her chair, he thought her caught a glimpse of metal clamped around her ankle and the leg of the desk.

_Not a prison for the insane_

Right, he was probably just seeing things. Realizing he had reached the end of the street, John made a sharp left, turning directly into the pet store, sighing as the cool breeze of air conditioning hit him. It was still mid spring, but damn was it humid.

It was a big shop, high ceilings and polished floors. John smiled like a child on Christmas, it may has well have been, he got to play with bunnies! Over the summer of grade 11, John had worked there but eventually quite, not able to resist the cuteness that just beckoned him.

Instead of heading right to where they housed the critters, John decided it better to look at the fish and reptilians before he got distracted, he wanted to see the weird fish they had that stuck to the glass. At the very back of the store is were the large glass containers the were home to all kinds of fish and reptiles. When he set eyes on the glass eating fish, all John could do was flick the glass absently and hold back laughs. He moved on, feeling a small wave of guilt wash over him, that was mean; but he just found it so funny. It got darker the further back he went, he saw lizards, spiders and all kinds of snakes. Eventually he came to the frogs. He had a weird love hate relationship with frogs, he loved them, they hated him.

A few paces away from him, someone else was staring at a frog on a lower shelf, giggling, while another person stood over then, smiling gently. It appeared to be a young woman who was smiling broadly, gesturing for the boy to look at the small amphibian hopping around. John watched as the boy chuckled kneeling down next to her, letting her shake his arm in excitement.

John smiled to himself, cute, like in a film or photograph even. The boy stood, pulling the girl up with him, pulling his hand away from her to adjust his glasses with different colored lenses. Blue and red. John's eyebrows shot up his forehead in realization.

"Sollux?" John called down the row of tanks.

The boy's head shot up to look at John, giving him a once over before raising a hand in greeting. The young lady beside him shooting him a confused glance. "Thup?" Sollux said back as John approached them.

"Is this were you always go after school? The pet store?" John asked in confusion, looking around like the store was suddenly some kind of holy grail. Sollux narrowed his eyes at him.

"Not usually," He said casually "it's different every day,"

"Oh..." John sighed, shoulders slumping, thinking he had discovered the guys big secret. A awkward silence fell over the group, only filled with the small sounds of frogs hitting the ground after a large leap.

After a minute of building pressure, a voice finally spoke out quietly, hoarsely, "Um..."

It was the girl that had been beaming over the frogs, face now full of confusion. Now that he was closer, John could see what she really looked like. Brown eyes with dark lashes surrounding them and dark chocolate brown hair, really long.

"Oh, right..." Sollux said, remembering the girl beside him didn't know John. "Aa," Sollux said loudly, her eyes were now on him. She smiled sheepishly, reaching her hands behind her ears and fiddling with something before looking back at the two of them. Hearing aids, John thought.

"Sorry," She giggled, holding a laugh back by pressing her lips together. Sollux only sighed, running a hand through his already messed up hair.

"Anywayth, John thith ith Aa," Sollux said quickly.

John held out a hand to the girl, smiling, "Hi Aa-"

He was cut off by a loud snort, "My names not Aa..." not Aa said, smiling tiredly "Hello, my _real_ name is Aradia, pleased to meet you," Aradia said sincerely, taking the hand and shaking it once. She shot the tiniest of smirks in Sollux's direction.

"Right, Aradia," John half smiled, pulling his hand away. The same silence fell over the three once again, others more disturbed by it then others. Namely, John. "So... How do you two know each other? I mean you don't have to answer if you don't want to, it's just I don't think you got to our school and Sollux never really talks about anyone so I was just-"

John's rant was cut off by Sollux casting a sideways glance at him, it was more like a glare though.

Aradia just giggled again, leaning against the glass cages. "It's fine John, if you really want to know how Sollux and I are acquainted I have no problem with it. It all started about 9 years ago in a small town called-"

"We uthed to be fuck buddith," Sollux said smirking, cutting Aradia off suddenly, making her gape openly at him.

"SOLLUX CAPTOR!" Aradia screamed, coughing with her large outburst. The muffled sounds becoming louder as the girls face became a darker shade of red, the once soft sounds turning into harsh hacking and choking sounds.

Sollux looked at her in panic, grabbing her hand, giving her something to hold onto as she hoked up a lung. John just stood a few feet away, staring with wide eyes at the medical emergency. "Uh..."

All John got was a palm held up as Aradia took deep breaths, regaining her ability to breath. Her face was still red, but John couldn't tell if it was from the fact she was just deprived of air consumption, embarrassment...

"Ow! Fuck!"

Or outright anger...

Sollux had been pushed against the opposite tanks, rubbing his shoulder rapidly. "S-sorry Aa..." He muttered under his breath.

Aradia smiled weekly in triumph, "S'what you get," She rasped, turning back to John. "Anyways, as much as I would love to correct him, we did date, but we've also known each other a lot longer... As for why you never see me around, I'm home schooled, I tend not to get out much either," She sighed, shrugging limply. "I hate to cut this short, really, but I should be getting home now,"

Sollux nodded beside her, giving John a nod and pulling the girl away. "It was nice meeting you John!" Aradia yelled behind her, waving.

John blinked.

"What the hell just happened?"

00000000

After his not so little encounter with Sollux and the newly named Aradia, John decided to skip the bunnies and head home. By the time he got there, the last beam of sunlight had just disappeared over the horizon and he could barely see his keys as he unlocked the front door of his house. It was always a chore living on the outskirts of the town, not many people kept their lights on and even if they did a lot of the windows were covered by thick curtains, including his own home. That little tidbit combined with the fact that not many people lived around the area and the nearest street lamp was a quarter mile down the road, made for difficult door opening past nine 'o clock. Upon pulling what sounded like his keys, John held them up to his face, trying to decide which was the right one. He didn't want to wake up his Grandmother if she was sleeping, so keys it was.

A stream of light was directed onto his face, making the boy squint and look towards the source. Right at the end of the driveway sat a smug looking Strider, holding a LED flashlight in his right hand as he rested against the hood of one red convertible. John frowned.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure Mr. Strider?" John asked sarcastically, finally picking out the correct key with the help of Dave. He turned away from the blond, hearing Dave push off and begin walking towards him up the gravel path.

"I've come to sweep you off your feet Egbert, now drop your shit and get in the car," Dave said, pocketing the keys he was previously twirling around on his finger tips. "Or must you adorn yourself like the lovely Miss. Harley- who I might mention is looking fine this evening," The blond continued, smiling hesitantly when the door opened to reveal a glasses-less Jade rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands tiredly.

"Oh hey guys... Nana thought you were burglars so she got me to come check," Jade yawned, looking at John and Dave in confusion. John was still dressed in his school clothing, while Dave was adorning his usual attire, just with a broken record instead of a... Not broken one. The two boys stared back at the girl dress choice. A black long sleeved nighty then went down to her mid calves and soft squiddel slippers.

"What are you wearing?" They all asked at the same time, shooting each other amused glances for a second. Well at least Jade and John did, Dave just let a smirk tug at the edge of his mouth.

"I was watching a movie before going to bed," Jade replied. Her arms wrapped around her shoulders, slumping. "This is where you two go," Jade giggled.

John and Dave bother looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Harley, are you seriously about to go to sleep at... 10, on a Friday night? Don't you have something to do? Pillow fight with Rose, kool-aid drinking contest, hot date?" Dave asked looking her pajamas up and down. Or at least John assumed he was looking at his sisters jammies, or heads would roll.

"Afraid I'm fresh out of those," Jade laughed pulling her hair absently over her shoulder.

"To bad,"

"Yup, it's all ice cream and pets this night. Oh whoa is me,"

"You sure you don't have anything important planed for tonight?"

"Are you implying something?" Jade asked, looking bemused.

"Oh my gosh will you two stop flirting on the porch already!" John suddenly screamed, covering his face with one palm. "This is so embarrassing and I'm not even... You know what never mind!" John sighed, trying to push past his sister.

"John I thought you were my wing man? You just leaving me here is not a good thing. In fact it is the exact opposite or good, bad. Yes John I hate to be the one to tell you, but abandoning me on the front step of a girls house? This isn't no midsummer's night dream or me getting some shiny locks to crawl up," Dave said after John had exited the front deck. "Jade will you marry me?"

"WHAT! You two have only been dating for a few weeks, five at the very most, you're taking this way to fast, or at least I think so but that's just me. Jade think of what Gran would want, is she looking at you through that window right now, scowling cause your about to elope with some poor excuse for a rapper with coolish shades and purely ironic intentions? You haven't even graduated yet, think of the children!" John rambled, clinging to his sister tightly.

"This is your fault John, you were my wing man and you abandoned me, leaving me with no guidance or second opinions. Left me hanging like a sweaty towel in the breeze just waiting for the wind to pick up and blow me into a drivers windshield. You just caused the death of a whole bus full of iguanas ready to start their lives in captivity, John,"

"Ew, Dave no!"

"B-but-"

"John. The future Ms. Strider," Dave deadpanned, taking one of Jade's hands and pecking it right on the knuckles.

"Dave,"

"Yes?"

"Stop it I think he passed out..." Jade said poking her limp brother gently. "John he was kidding... John?"

00000000

Mornings were not John's strong suite. Especially a morning after staying up till three with your sister, her boyfriend and said boyfriends sister. After passing out on the front steps for a few minuets, John had awoken in Dave's arms. At first there had been confusion and his first instinct was to punch the Strider in the nose. But knowing Dave, he would probably drop him. So John just continued pretending to still be knocked out. Once he was sat down, it wasn't long before he felt two presences sink down beside him and he was enveloped by a pile of blankets. John swore he would have feel asleep right in that moment had it not been for the blond girl that had plopped down on his stomach. Upon this event, the boy had let out a loud huff of pain.

Jade, Dave and a swaying Rose looked toward him. Jade instantly jumped into an apologetic rant about the occurrences of earlier that day and the events that had just taken place outside. Dave nodded occasionally, appearing tired while Rose crawled off John to occupy a different seat that wasn't living. To say she was tipsy was an understatement.

After John had assured Jade all was forgiven, she still wasn't convinced. So as retribution, the group (Jade) decided for their own self assurance (Jade's) they would let John pick out any movie he wanted.

The night ended with awkward sleeping arrangements and John being tackled by a peanut wielding Rose. It was a hectic night.

John arose from a pile of pillows and blankets from all over the house. Jade was snuggled up against the bottom of the sofa facing away from all of them while Rose was draped over the edge of the couch. Dave was in a straight line across the floor with both his hands behind his head, he'd look cool and composed if you couldn't see his eyes were closed because of the askew glasses on his face.

John rubbed his face a few times, they were all such dorks.

All of them... It was great.

Like any teenager, one of the first things he did after struggling out of the mound of cushions, was check his phone. He had twenty-seven texts, from Dirk and Karkat.

A lot of them were from last night, questions if he knew where Dave was, if Rose was with Jade. The texts themselves were weird enough with the guys weird scene of humor, but he and Dave also occasionally switched phones for ironic purposes and it was starting to get confusing. The remainder of the texts from the older Strider was just one single reminder from this morning that he started today at the loony bin-

"Oh crap!" John yelled, causing two out of three of the sleeping teens to stir. It was 11:53, he had to be there in seven minutes. John raced up the stairs, saying sorry to his sleeping grandmother in his head. There was no doubt he'd woken her.

He was so going to be late.

** *Laughs like a friend murdering, mind controlling, mega bitch* **

**Ah... That was great... Anyways, here's the update, sorry its late, please review, don't hesitate. Thanks for the positive feedback on last chapter, I will make sure this story doesn't make like Johnvris and die (literally) just when you think it's getting good... **

** On a side note I finished Homestuck! **


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